Went there extremely hungry and tired .. had a very very small lunch and spent a few hours practicing and performing. We went to this restaurant situated at a corner of a block of flats. Personally I don't like orange so the deco in the restaurant which was mostly orange, gave me a headache. We ordered Mixed grill, oven baked chicken (should be called over baked), Seafood pasta (I think), Chocolate Truffle, Brownie and Beef Lasagna.

Upsized the meal to include soup and drinks at a mere $3.
The soup was great ... (I think was leek) with smooth and deep taste and not just diluted cambell soup. However the ice lemon tea, though big in size, was too sweet.

The overall verdict of the food there was : Overcooked

with tough chicken and beef in my oven baked chicken and the lasagna, dry, grainy and hard texture of our choc truffle and brownie

the steak and mixed grill seems not bad too, with the meat being very tender and the portion valued for money

After reading the two very different takes on this place, I went last week to try it out myself. The place looks very different from how I'd pictured it. It was nicely done up and looks very appealing. When I was there around 5.30pm, there were already 2 families ordering in the restaurant. One thing I've to agree with Lucardia is that the photos in the menu really did make the food look more appealing than it really was. And I've also spotted the reason why the above reviews were so different. They've actually changed their menu after genesis review and before Lucardia went. They'd also increased their pricing! I suspect that they've changed the cook too.

Anyway, since I was already there, we went ahead to order. I ordered a medium-rare Cumin-rubbed Sirloin Steak @ $12.90, my bf ordered a medium done Sizzling Sirloin with blackpepper sauce @ $10.90. The Gratinated half mussels, @ $6.90, looked interesting so we ordered it too. For drinks, we had a sarsi float @ $3 and a mocha latte ice blended @ $5.

The wait for the food took alittle too long since there wasn't much people around. While waiting, our drinks came and they gave us a complimentary basket of chips. This chip tasted like some Hari Raya goodies. They should probably just use potato chips instead. The mocha latte was badly done. It was too diluted and didn't taste like mocha latte at all. Sarsi float was alright since its just normal soda with ice cream.

Soon, our steak came, before the starters (or tapas as they'd called it). It didn't look as appealing as seen on the photos in the menu, but still the smell was pretty good. When I cut into my steak, the steak was overcooked to medium done instead of my medium-rare. It was too tough and the layer of fats was pretty big as compared to the rest I'd seen elsewhere. Taste wise, its nothing to rave about. Soon my bf's sizzling sirloin came. And guess what! His was cooked to medium-rare! Bravo! They'd mixed up our steak! We ended up eating the other's order instead since he's not a fan of bloody steak. The blackpepper sauce was pretty good as compared to the cumin one.

The mussels were the best catch for us that day. Interesting taste with the toppings, which tasted like cheese and some flakes-like toppings.

Before we left, the person on duty told us that the restaurant is there to serve the community. All the earnings from the restaurants actually goes back to charity and to help the needy. It's under the management of Jeewa Ltd and incooperation with Jamiyah Singapore.

Overall, the experience at J's Wok and Grill was quite a disappointment. Considering we actually drove around Bedok just to find the place.

Polarbearsaid:Hmm... I think this one have to go and try on my own to have a verdict. Wahahaha03 Mar 2008 at 9:49 pm

claudsaid:I think they just need feedback to help them to improve. The person in charge was talking to everyone there trying to get feedback. There's alot that they can improve on I think.03 Mar 2008 at 10:02 pm

Lucardiasaid:Well, the improvement needed is pretty tremondous i think. Good looking food and good tasting food needs to be together.12 Mar 2008 at 5:35 pm

cadallacasaid:for the price and serving is worth it.as consumer u can always request for a change if it is not cook to what you have requested.I certainly disagree with you that the place is disappointing.14 Mar 2008 at 7:38 pm

claudsaid:Hi Cadallaca, thanks for your input. The place was disappointing not because of the mixed up of our order. But we had higher expectation b4 we went. The taste and flavor could have been better. :)14 Mar 2008 at 9:05 pm

claudsaid:I think they do. They also have a function room on the upper storey for functions.13 May 2008 at 11:20 pm

Leesaid:I actually took the effort to sign up for an account to say this, please manage your expectations. For the price you're paying, can't expect Shangrila's standard but they are holding their own : )31 Oct 2008 at 4:14 pm

Read about this place on Yebber by a fellow blogger. He was all praises for the place and recommended it with a 5 star rating which is the best a restaurant can get on the website. Seeing that it was so close to my workplace, i decided to drop by one night to try it out myself to see if it indeed deserves such praise.

Believe it or not, the place is actually located under a block of flats alongside grocery stores and right next to the car park. It certainly didn't feel that way from the moment i stepped in though. Its obvious to see much thought has been put into the decorations and the environment.

Complimentary Crackers - These are truly complimentary but had a weird milky taste to it that makes it seem like a mixture of malay and indian crackers.

Milk Shake ($5) - After scrounging around for a drink, i finally choose to try their vanilla milkshake which turned out to be a big mistake. Waiting time aside, the ice was not blended well and the milkshake had a powdery residue which makes it taste like baby milk at the top and sugar syrup near the bottom. Not recommended.

Soup ($3) - Simply add $3 to your main course to get a soup of the day and a soft drink. I did not get to try the soup but was told by my companions that it was average.

J's Prawn Salad ($7.50) - Always start with an appetiser to get things going. And after cafe cartel, i had a thing going on for prawn salads. Judging from the shot, its needless to say that presentation gained it marks for visual flair alone. It is, however, not very functional when it came to actual eating as the salad tend to drop and spill. That wasn't missing much however, since the overall salad didn't quite hit the mark as it was overly sweet and the prawns were not fresh and crunchy enough.

Seafood Oglio Olio ($8.90) - Squid, mussels and prawn with spaghetti stir fried in cheese and chili (??). This was different. Presentation wise, it was another looker but taste wise, it sadly fell short yet again. The spaghetti was too oily and the seafood simply had no taste and wasn't fresh.

Chicken Cordon Bleu ($9.90) - I had no idea what chicken cordon bleu is. When it was served, i was quite disappointed as it was simply chicken wrap. There was no hint of alcohol in the meat at all, not to mention the meat was too tough and not marinated enough. That said, the mushroom sauce it came with was so salty, it didn't take long before my gf camped out and simply stopped using it.

J's Classic Combo ($17.90) - I had heard about this dish on yebber and ordered it to try since it was supposed to be a signature dish of sorts. Yet again, the presentation astounds and pleases the senses but behind it all is a trio of overcooked chicken, beef and fish with a simply salty mushroom sauce and an undercooked corn. The meat were both tough to chew and lacked taste while the fish fillet must have been bought from the supermarket because it had 'frozen' written all over its taste. Another disappointment.

Disappointment is the word of the day at this restaurant. I had such high hopes for it that i felt sad when it simply didn't measure up. All its dishes look splendid when they are served but thats still missing the point because food is not all about looks, its about taste, and that department is where this place simply did not deliver.